Onamishu 3G tower expected to be operational early June
Oshikoto Regional Governor, Penda Ya Ndakolo, Telecom Namibia CEO, Dr Stanley Shanapinda, PowerCom Board of Director and other dignitaries embarked on a Onamishu tower site tour at the Eenghodi constituency in Oshikoto Region last week.
PowerCom, Telecom Namibia’s subsidiary is currently busy with the construction of the tower, which is expected to be completed by the end of May and operational early June.
The site visit/tour highlights the completion of project Onamishu and serves part of the tower roll-out plan for the year 2020/2021 for PowerCom to fulfil its mission to provide world-class communications that enables connectivity to all industries for economic transformation.
Shanapinda said the COVID-19 outbreak placed a lot of households under immense pressure, especially households in isolated communities and thus, bridging the digital divide should be prioritized.
Under the Telecom Namibia Group of Companies strategic initiative called Operation Autumn Cleaning (OAC), the company plans to roll out more towers across Namibia, in more places like Onamishu.
“With PowerCom as our subsidiary we are embarking on a major project to roll out hundreds of towers, Faster across Namibia. More details will be made available soon. Where we will invite strategic partners to help with this strategic initiative that we call: The Faster Tower Roll Out Initiative. We had our first kick-off meeting in April and will have the second one tomorrow with the project teams of the two companies. This is an ambitious goal to connect Namibia to faster mobile internet,” Shanapinda added.
Shanapinda pleaded for assistance from traditional authorities and traditional leaders, city councils, town councils and village councils to help by fast-tracking access to land to construct mobile towers.
“The bureaucracies we encounter in this regard slows down access to faster mobile internet connectivity at a time when learners, patients and businesses need it more. I am sure the Telecom Namibia Group of Companies can rely on your support. Having said that I would like to thank the local authorities and traditional leaders that helped us to get access to this site so we can connect Onamishu to the world and connect the world to Onamishu,” he added.
The tower will support entrepreneurs and SMEs in Onamishu to develop local digital ecosystems and leverage on wider opportunities that come with good quality connectivity.
Onamishu boasts various types of SMEs such as brick laying projects, chicken hatching projects, bars, minimarkets, restaurants, bakery and carpentry projects, just to mention a few. The area also has a clinic, a regional councillors office, and Office of the Ministry of Agriculture Water and Land Reform, a fuel station and Multi-Purpose Youth Centre.
Similarly, Onamishu and the surrounding areas has 8 remote schools, which can now be connected to 3G mobile broadband internet to promote an improved e-learning environment.
